Gaga Unfiltered: Introducing Lady Gaga on Thursday night, Jimmy Kimmel noted that the "best thing" about having her on his show while it was shooting in Austin for South by Southwest was that she "could barbecue her own dress." But Gaga showed up wearing a frock made of, no, not meat, but coffee filters. "Upcycling,"
she explained, adding that she'd chosen the modest outfit, a fluffy white Gareth Pugh creation with jacket and hat to match (natch), because she'd gotten "really fat" from overindulging in BBQ while in Texas. After naming her favorite local BBQ joints (Stubb's,
Salt Lick), Gaga added, "If I see any meat on the street I just will eat it because I like it." [
Jimmy Kimmel Live!]

And the James Beard Awards Go To … The James Beard Foundation has
announced the 2014 inductees into its prestigious Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America. The six inductees, culinary pros who were determined to make "a significant and unique contribution to the American food and beverage industry," are The Art of Eating editor and publisher Edward Behr, New Orleans Chef John Besh, New York Chef David Chang, food writer Barry Estabrook, Chicago Chef Paul Kahan and Los Angeles Pastry Chef Sherry Yard. The awards will be given out in a ceremony in New York on May 5. Congrats to all. [
Eater]

Foodies Go Deep: It seems like everyone — from The Daily Show's
Jon Stewart to the Supreme Court's
Antonin Scalia — has been dissing
Chicago pizza of late. That is, everyone except the people who are standing in line for three hours in the freezing cold to eat it in New York. Emmett's, a Chicago-style deep-dish pizzeria that opened in November in SoHo, just two blocks away from Dominique Ansel Bakery, the home of the
Cronut®, has apparently been luring curious fad-food followers and hungry pie lovers in droves. "As we started bringing out pizza, people would ask if it was cake, and soon word spread," Chicago-area-raised owner Emmett Burke
told the Chicago Tribune, "and then the foodies came." [
Chicago Tribune]

Too Good to Be True: You know that "Miracle Machine" that was supposed to turn water into wine, the one that generated a huge viral buzz and got covered by a gazillion media outlets,
including this one? Sorry to tell you, it was a big hoax. The purported prototype touted by two wine industry veterans was "just a piece of wood" — part of a "disruptive" PR campaign to generate support for a not-for-profit organization called Wine to Water (see how they did that?) that addresses global water and sanitation issues, according to a press release. "The decision to put our wine credentials on the line and get involved was an easy one," one of the wine entrepreneurs, Kevin Boyer, said. “While many of us like to enjoy a fine glass of wine, too many people around the world cannot enjoy a clean glass of water, and that's unacceptable." Genius or just deceitful? You decide. [
Business Insider]

Quote of the Day: "Muenster is Muenster, no matter how you slice it." — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the European Union's proposal to ban the use of regional cheese names like Parmesan, Gorgonzola and feta for cheeses made in the U.S. [
Associated Press]